35 Weeks- We’re getting there….

I wasn’t going to do a post this week. There hasn’t been a lot of change, still feeling the same super uncomfortableness (is that word??) but I re-read some old posts recapping the very end with Ada and it’s so interesting for me to read back and see that I was feeling the exact same ways with her, even though at this moment in time, I feel like I don’t remember it being so bad last time. I guess this is why we have multiple children, you really do forget the worst parts of growing a human baby once its all said and done.

I also thought it was really cool that I ended my last pregnancy post, literally the day before she was born, so it was super fun to see what I was thinking and feeling right before she arrived, so I decided not to skip a week and document everything!

The good news is that I’m about 6 or 7 pounds down from where I was with Ada. I also said I had ditched my wedding rings by this point and right now I still have some wiggle room with those too.  The movements feels wicked bad this time around and reading back I think Ada was just as bad. I was also still finalizing the nursery at 36 weeks last time and I’m happy to report that I am all done with that and in a really good place with everything we need to do. We’re ready for baby, our bags are packed, we have supplies in the house and everyone has instructions!

So what’s going on this week? (I’m gonna skip the boring survey and wing it!!) 35 weeks and 4 days in…..

-Dan and I got new phones this past weekend. I wanted to get the newest iphone (iphoneX) so I had the very best camera when baby girl arrived. Here’s a shot with the new phone of my little beauty who simply cannot get enough of loving on my bump still!

IMG_0021

-Braxton hicks are getting really intense. They are actually a lot less frequent this week, but they have been really bad when they do come. Like close my eyes, make a fist and breathe deeply kinda bad! Last night they were really frequent though and I’ve had bad hip pain too. I’ve been having a hard time breathing this week, which makes me suspect maybe she hasn’t quite dropped yet.

-Baby girl is still moving around like crazy, alien like punches from the outside, but I’m noticing that its really bad right before I eat a meal and as soon as I eat and give it a little time, she calms right down. I hope she’s this easy to settle once she arrives. Seems like as soon as I feed her she drifts off to sleep.

-I actually wore a pair of boots that I didn’t think fit my feet anymore this week that fit fine and my weight is up about 2 pounds from last week, so still slow and steady. Up about 29lbs right now. I’ve had a bad sweet tooth this week again though.

-Dan’s Grandmother passed away this past weekend, so he had to fly out to NYC today. I’m a little nervous about him being out of town, but I think we still have a couple weeks. I’m sad I cannot be there with him and his family but I’m almost 36 weeks now and knowing Ada came at the end of 37 weeks it would not be a good idea for me to be traveling.

-I’ve dropped my maternity clothes rotation to like 6 things. I have a couple black and gray leggings, 2 different striped tank tops and a couple different sweaters, that is about all I feel comfortable in right now. My wardrobe goes down a little each week which means I have to do laundry a lot more often.

-My coffee addiction is getting real. I still only have my one cup a day that I’m allowed right now, but it makes such a huge difference in my productivity. Dan and I went out with friends last weekend and I actually stayed out until midnight thanks to an after dinner cappuccino. 2 years ago I never would have thought of myself as a coffee drinker and now I can see my survival relying on it a few weeks from now.

-Doctors appointment in 2 days. They moved me last week from bi-weekly to weekly, (one week earlier then then normally would have) she said since I was so uncomfortable and since Ada was so early, she’d have me come back next week and do my first internal check and the strep B test to get that stuff all outta the way. I was glad we did that, I said in last weeks post that I wanted some good news and that was about as close as we could get I guess. It was a really quick appointment,  everything else was right on track, so that’s all good news.

-Today is Valentine’s Day. Ada has had her “countdown to baby” based on holidays, so its crazy this is our very last one. We’ve been counting down to St. Patricks Day which is my actual due date, but I’ve been hopeful all along that we would have her in our arms by that holiday. We’ll see, no other holidays to count now!!

-And because I am a proud mom I have to share another picture of Ada. Last week was school picture day and she melted my heart and made me question where the last 4 years of my life has gone when they took these graduation pictures. Kindergarten, yikes!!

5363_0168

I suppose that’s all my updates for this week… on to 36 weeks and hopefully the end is very near, we cannot wait to meet this little baby and have her flip our world upside down!!

Here’s our Valentine’s Day bump picture, and of course one of us at the breakfast table with Ada hugging the gigantic bump again, she tells the baby everything in the mornings!

IMG_0087

IMG_0079

Ada’s 4th Birthday Party

My baby girl is FOUR YEARS OLD! How did this happen? I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital tackling this newborn thing, and now she is the most spunky, sassy and sweet little girl! She has grown up so much this past year from a toddler to a kid, its amazing how much they change year to year. She asked me just this morning, “Mom, why don’t you want me to grow up?” I said I do want you to grow up, but I want you to always be my baby, and she said, “Don’t worry, but we have another baby coming that can be your baby!” She’s right, so sweet, but she’ll always be my baby!!

4 Years of Ada

Crafts, coloring, writing, and painting are her favorite things to do and she has perfected writing her own name, “Mommy” and “DAD”. She is so good at drawing houses and palm trees and even drew an elephant the other day that was better then anything I could do!

I love when she tells me that Indian food take out, is the BEST meal I make and when she talks like crazy telling me about all the kids in her class, who went to time out, what her favorite part of her day was and what she is going to dream about as we lay in bed together every night before falling asleep!

I cannot wait until we add BEST BIG SISTER to the growing list of awesome things she is becoming! She is going to be the most loving and helpful sister in the world, and she already cannot wait to show the new baby All.The.Things!

Her party last weekend was so much fun! We tried to keep it small, but it still ended up with 30 or so people there. It has rained every year on her party, so it was so fun this year to have a hot, sunny day! It was so hot in fact that we had to get the sprinklers out, and I even picked up a really cool slip n’ slide for $5 at Target! We still had to keep all the food and drinks inside because of the temperature, and my Dad saved the day by coming over and setting up a huge tent in the driveway so we had some shade. Despite feeling very distracted about the move and not wanting to go to crazy with theming, everything turned out super cute and she loved it which was the most important part! Here are just a bunch of pictures from the day, and a few from her actual birthday the day before the party! Happy 4th Birthday to my Baby Girl!!

FullSizeRender 25

FullSizeRender 24

FullSizeRender 23

IMG_7153

IMG_7046

IMG_7067

IMG_7080

 

Day Trip to Niagara Falls USA

Over the summer we took a day trip to Niagara Falls. We went right before the 4th of July because usually any time after that the park is mobbed, no matter what day it is. After 9 years of working of there I thought I had it figured out, but we were wrong! It was still pretty crazy, even on a Wednesday afternoon!

The day trip had two parts, one because I really wanted to go back and see all my old co-workers and two because I figured Ada would really enjoy some of the activities there, since she loves the water so much!

We all took a half day from work and school, and left around noon. Usually the later in the day the crazier it gets, to take full advantage you should plan on getting into the Niagara Falls State Park right when it opens at 9am. Hit the majors like Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds right away!

Our first stop was the Niagara Falls USA Visitors Center, my old home! We spent a good hour there talking with everyone. I picked a good day because almost everyone was there and it was so nice to catch up again! It felt very weird to be in there again, to spend so much time somewhere and then just stop going one day is a strange feeling. Everything looked and felt the same except it wasn’t my desk anymore. I miss the team so much, but I couldn’t help feeling like I still made a good decision for my family to move on. It was so much fun promoting such an exciting destination for so many years, and to see it now and how far its come is exciting!

We left with cookies and cupcakes in hand (that kitchen was always stocked with goodies) and headed to the park. My plan was to try and do both the Maid of the Mist and the Cave of the Winds, then head somewhere for dinner. The lines were much longer then we expected and since it was nearing 2:30 by the time we headed out, we only had time for one thing. I chose the Cave of the Winds because it always has been my favorite thing!

The Maid of the Mist is a classic, its a famous stop that if you’ve never done it you should! But since we have, I decided the cave would be more fun for Ada. Of course she was tired of walking before we even got to the attraction, so she was piggy backing it early!

Stephanie

The line at the Cave of the Winds took us about 20 minutes to get sandals and then another 20 to get to the Elevators, (Tip: if you can, don’t stop to sit on the benches and put your sandals on, grab them and keep moving. There is usually time while you are standing in line to put that stuff on and you’ll get a jump on all those people who stopped).

FullSizeRender 15

Ada was a little hesitant at first about all that water. She stayed close by and when we got to the top she wanted nothing to do with it. I was so surprised that she was so nervous about it. FullSizeRender 16

The very top of all the stairs is called the Hurricane Deck, we stepped to the side when we got to the top because we were in a lot of peoples way. I let her just stand by me and watch everyone for a few minutes and then all of a sudden she wanted to head in, and I mean ALL. THE. WAY. Something I wasn’t prepared to do and I didn’t really want to get that wet, but that’s the best part about having kids, they force you to do things sometimes that take even you out of your comfort zone! So we headed in and got wet, really wet, and it was SOOO much fun!

FullSizeRender 18

I love my little travel buddy so much! I’m so happy she was willing to step back, watch and then dive into something new. We had so much fun, even though it was literally the only thing we had time for.

FullSizeRender 17

I didn’t think the Trolley was that exciting, but she kept seeing the “Train” go by and wanted to ride it so bad, so we decided to take the “Train” back to our parking lot instead of walking. We had Discovery Passes, so it included rides on the Trolley all day, but its like $2 for a day pass if you didn’t have the full pass. Girlfriend was all kinds of tired after that, (she also missed nap time at school) so she was actually cool with sitting still for a little bit while we waited for the Trolley.

FullSizeRender 20

We had about a 4 minute car ride to the restaurant for dinner and she of course passed out! She never stays asleep once we arrive, so I carried her in with the hopes of her sleeping a little longer but that didn’t last. We went to dinner at Bella Vista Ristorante, inside the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Its right on the waterfront and since it was only about 5:00pm it was still pretty empty. The view was incredible and the food is really good, lots of Italian dishes to chose from.

They do a lot of weddings there right on the waterfront, and have an amazing ball room that overlooks the water. After dinner, Ada gave me an insight into her future by pretending to be the “Wedding Girl” with daddy! At only 3 years old she has been to more weddings then I did at 20, so she knows what’s up! But I am not ready!

FullSizeRender 21

FullSizeRender 19

We had a super fun family day! Its always fun to be a tourist in your own backyard. The Niagara Falls State Park has so much to do, people tend to think that because there are only 4-5 attractions right there that its not enough to keep the family busy, but we spent one afternoon and did one attraction and dinner, it was more then enough for our family and we very easily could have come back and spent 2 or 3 days there trying to get everything in. Niagara Falls USA has so much to offer families, and with it being so close to my heart, I’ll be taking my family every year to remind us that we have a truly special gem right at our finger tips.

 

Back Logged

If you are a follower of my blog, you might notice that there are some new posts hiding in here. I actually made the blog private for several weeks so that I could document the fact that we are expecting baby #2!!! I didn’t want to share the news publicly for awhile, but I wanted to make sure that I documented everything! I love to look back on this blog as a place to remember everything for myself, a digital scrapbook of sorts, more so then for anyone else! We’re now in a safer place in the pregnancy so moving forward you can follow along with us!

So if you are so inclined to catch up on things, I’ve made this post to include the links to the several blogs posts I’ve done while I was incognito for a few weeks. Feel free to catch up with us, or pick up from where we left off. I’ll be documenting everything moving forward!

Some Exciting News to share!!

Baby Bumps!! Week 4, 5 & 6

Baby Bumps!! Week 7, 8 & 9

Baby Bump!! Week 10

Baby Bump! Week 11, on vacation!

Baby Bump! 12 Weeks and more exciting news!!

Baby Bump: Week 13

And one post that was not related to the bump!! Adirondack Trip 2017

Adirondack Trip 2017

Before it gets away from me, I wanted to recap our family vacation to the Adirondacks this year. We didn’t do much, or anything really for that matter. Ada was more then happy to just stay at our cabins paying in the sand, water or the playground. She made some cousin friends this year that she got along really well with and basically wanted to spend every waking minute with.

IMG_4242

We went to town one afternoon, took her to lunch for pizza and shopping to pick out her one souvenir gift of the week. She picked a cute little stuffed, pink pig and a stuffed elephant for the new baby! And she got to pick out some candy from the Candy Cottage. She picked cotton candy! She also took a ride on the carousel horse outside the shop, a highlight every year, it will break my heart when she thinks she too old for that!

IMG_6742

IMG_5115

We took a family kayak trip out on Fourth Lake, which she really enjoyed this year, so much so that she wanted to go again later in the week, so Daddy took her again. Probably one of my favorite pictures from the week! Love when they spend special time together!

IMG_1384

I took her for a hike one of our days with a group of the littler kids. A group of them went earlier in the week and we were supposed to go, but we had a shoe incident, thankfully though, because that group did a very long hike. We did a short, flat, 2 mile loop around a lake and even that you would think I was torturing her by making her walk herself.

IMG_2381

She got to do her first, solo (without me or dad) tube ride on the boat, which she absolutely loved, she was a little nervous to go out but I’m pretty sure I was more nervous then her! Watching from the dock makes you feel pretty useless if anything were to go wrong. She loved it though and of course they went nice and slow, so she did great! Had the biggest smile on her face! She just looks too old for me in this picture!

IMG_6676

And lastly we had a family wedding for the first time ever while we were there. It was fun to have something different to do, although the lack of a babysitter made it harder. Fortunately, Dan has a 13 year old cousin who offered to watch her, and I obviously wasn’t drinking or partying very hard, so we took Ada to the ceremony with us, but then left her back at the Cabin with Dan’s cousin, and I made it back home around 10pm to do bedtime. It was a really beautiful wedding, just a little chillier then we all expected!

IMG_1273

FullSizeRender 13

IMG_7910

IMG_5886

And finally I’ll end with a few more favorite pictures from the week. Nothing better then a good family vacation! Ada slept great all week, with the exception of our first night there, which I always expect since its takes a night to get used to our new surroundings. It just always amazes me at how appreciative she is of everything we do, even if it feel likes nothing to me, its so exciting for her. To experience all this through her eyes makes every trip we take, worth every penny! I cannot wait until our next vacation to California in December! Our last one as a family of three!

IMG_1571

IMG_3784

IMG_1698

IMG_3604

FullSizeRender 14

Another great year in Old Forge, NY!

4th of July Weekend

We jammed a lot into the holiday weekend! Having an extra day off was really great and put me in a summer mindset that was really hard to leave, aka I did NOT want to go back to work on Wednesday! Fortunately the rainy weather since then has made it not so bad! But here’s how we spent our 4th of July weekend!

We had our friends over Friday night and it turned into a really late night, keeping the kids out waaay past bedtime, but us grownups were having too much fun to say goodnight, our excuse “Its summer”! While we chatted on the deck we planned a super fun Saturday for everyone! We went to lunch at 12 Gates Brewery, which (despite it being a brewery) was a perfect place for kids, they had picnic tables outsides and lots of room to run around, and even some yard games! We  got there right at noon when they opened so we were the only ones there for about the first hour. The absolute BEST part about this place is that its located right near the airport and the planes fly right overhead, which was awesome! It was a little scary for the kids at first, but they got used to it. We downloaded a flight tracker app so that we could see when planes were coming and give everyone a heads up.

gates 2

 

gates

After lunch we headed back to our friends house to go swimming for the afternoon! Ada did awesome swimming in the big pool all by herself with just her water wings!

swim

swim 3

swim 2

On Sunday, we decided last minute to go up to Conesus Lake, where Dan’s family has a cottage, we go every year. I’m not a big fan of sleeping in a tent which is what has to happen when we go because there are so many people, but we decided to go up around dinner time, after Dan got out of work, and just stay for the fireworks then drive home.

Ada got to go on a boat ride, which she has been asking to do since our Florida trip. she played with cousins and watched the fireworks. Again, it was a VERY late bedtime!

boat

IMG_5440

IMG_5472

IMG_5480

Oh yeah, and our house officially went up for sale on Monday July 3rd!

IMG_5507

On the fourth our friends invited us to their house so the kids got to play all afternoon and then we walked to where the fireworks were and let them run around some more!

FullSizeRender 3

IMG_5546

IMG_5597

FullSizeRender 4

It was a super fun weekend that we didn’t want to end! 4th of July is always my favorite holiday (better then Christmas) Its just feels like summer to me, we stay so busy but its always fun, relaxing things like swimming and campfires!

How did you spend Fourth of July?

Summertime

I haven’t posted in awhile, we’ve had a lot going on. Between summer fun and getting our house listed to sell!! (Yep, on the move again 3rd time in 5 years, but I swear this is the last time!) Also, I had an appendectomy that shut me down for almost 3 weeks! Lots of craziness over here!

I thought I’d share a quick post of some of my favorite summer time moments so far!

Ada finished her first year of “School” its really her daycare program but its Pre-k3 so its actually a structured educational classroom with lessons. They finished the year with a show, and it was beyond adorable! She did great singing all her favorite nursery rhymes and we got to meet some of her little friends from school, it was very cute!

Ada

Ada2

Ada3

We got to meet our new baby Niece, Natalie Isobel, who arrived June 8th! She is the most precious itty bitty and Ada loves her soo much! I got to take some pictures of them in the hospital when Big Sister Savannah met her little baby sister for the first time!

Nat

Nat2

Nat3

And a couple of Ada being the most Awesome big cousin ever! She’s such a pro holding her little Baby Natalie!

AdaNat

FullSizeRender

And one of me meeting my third little niece for the very first time!

IMG_4709

Its been a fun summer and I feel like its flying by, so I made a bucket list for us of things I want to do this summer! So far I think we’ve only done one of them…. Spend the day at Niagara Falls. We went to visit my old office crew and say hello to everyone, followed by an afternoon in the park. I thought it wouldn’t be too crowded on a Wednesday afternoon but I was wrong, all we got to do was the Cave of the Winds, which Ada LOVED!

NF

NF2

NF3

NF4

So far its been a great summer, but here is what else is on our bucket list…. Let’s see how much of it we can fit in!

  1. Niagara Falls USA
  2. Go to the Beach
  3. Putt Putt
  4. Drive In Movies
  5. Fantasy Island Theme Park
  6. Take a hike through a state park
  7. Take a Road Trip (this might be coming in the fall instead)
  8. Go strawberry picking
  9. Go to a fair or Festival

We’ve also been spending a lot of time with our friends, just hanging out on our back deck, (we won’t have it much longer) we’ve been playing in the sprinklers, having campout fires (as Ada calls them), movie nights and family time!

FullSizeRender 2

IMG_4759

IMG_5654

IMG_5199

More summer posts to come! We had a super fun fourth of July weekend and hopefully we’ll be able to cross some more stuff off our summer bucket list! How has your summer been so far?

Easter Weekend

Both our families were in town for Easter this year, we’ve had a few years where Dan’s parents were out of town, so we didn’t have to split our time, but this year we did a double day again!

Ada has been counting down to Easter this year, she loves holiday’s and so we made an Easter chain about 2 weeks ago and she’s been literally counting down the days.

Ada's Easter Chain Countdown

I also wish we actually had people to our house during Easter, my table was looking so festive and springy!

FullSizeRender 5

I loved the little Easter Baskets I put together for my nieces. My Florida Niece got a special package in the mail, and my sister’s girls both needed matching Easters Baskets (one is coming this June, so she’ll have one to match her sister next year!)

FullSizeRender 6
The baskets are from Etsy Shop BaffinBags

I colored Easter Eggs with Ada one night too, which she loved, it got a little messy but she loved mixing and matching the colors. I bought a marble kit this year, so the colors all blended together instead of turning into gross shades when you apply more then one color!

FullSizeRender 7

 

On Saturday, I had found all these fun breakfast ideas on Pinterest and since most ideas I find on there turn into major #PinterestFails I was delighted when this one actually turned out pretty cute! Ada was super excited about it!

IMG_3839

Sunday morning she did her Egg hunt which she loved and keeps reenacting now over and over again, even as I try to keep hiding them away for the season. She also got a few new books, some bubbles, some painting things and her favorite, a new Moana Dress up costume. She’s obsessed with that movie right now!

FullSizeRender 8

We had brunch with Dan’s family where Ada received a gigantic Easter egg filled with some goodies for outside, bubbles, chalk, a jump rope, and some other little things!

IMG_3914

And then headed over to my family for dinner. The weather started out not so nice that day, but it actually turned into a beautiful evening, so we sat on their back deck and let the kids (and dad) play in the yard for awhile to run off some of that sugar from the day!

IMG_3980

IMG_4005

Hope everyone else had a nice Easter too! We are ready for summer to start now!!

Disney World 2017

While in Florida this past February, we spent 2 days at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Ada is so obsessed with the Disney Princesses that I knew this would be a perfect trip for her right now. And since I’m still trying to get her familiar with the idea of travel, I want to make sure they are trips she is excited about. I know she probably won’t remember the details of the trip, most people recommend going when they are a little older, but I figured that since the family is in Tampa, its a perfect time to visit them and give her a little taste of Disney.

2 days is definitely not enough, but at the same time, it was plenty! There was obviously only so much we could do in 2 days, and being that she is still so young we wanted to make sure we hit up the things she was most excited about.

Our first (half) day there we didn’t have tickets to the parks, so we checked into the hotel and played at pool all afternoon.

17362530_10100368218095251_1551248753794676735_n

FullSizeRender

I then, neglected to make any dinner reservations for the first night, so we were left scrambling to find something. We thought about heading to Downtown Disney, but it just didn’t seem worth the hassle to pack everyone up and take the bus out. Instead we hopped the monorail and headed to the Polynesian Resort, where I wish we would have stayed. I remember staying there as a kid and so I wanted to show Dan, but we foolishly thought we could just walk up to a restaurant. Of course everything was booked. We were informed that the Kona Cafe had a first come, first serve bar seating area, and we somehow managed to nab three seats there.  After dinner we walked around, grabbed a famous Dole whip (the only place you can find them outside of Adventure Land in the Magic Kingdom), and we were able to catch the fireworks from the beach at the hotel. All things we just happened to stumble upon and probably couldn’t have planned any better.

17352371_10100368218170101_5100753226802726938_n
Chopstick fight at Kona Cafe inside Disney’s Polynesian

I booked this trip 30 days out, and apparently that was not nearly soon enough. When booking the “Magic your Way” tickets and staying on a Disney property, reservations for restaurants and fast passes open up 60-180 days out, so everything I really wanted to do like Cinderella’s Table or Chef Mickeys, etc. was completely booked up, we had to be a little flexible. The only character dining I could get our first day was lunch at Hollywood & Vine inside Hollywood studios, which changed our plans quite a bit. Hollywood Studios wasn’t exactly on my itinerary this time around, but it ended up working out for the best. There was a lot more in that park for younger kids then Epcot, which was my original plan. The only reason I wanted to do Epcot was for the Frozen ride, but instead in Hollywood Studios we started our day with the Frozen sing-a-long, which was a perfect alternative. She got to see her princesses in real life, and it even “snowed” white foamy bubbles at the end, which was super exciting for her!

Dinsey's Frozen Sing-a-long, Hollywood Studios

After the Frozen Sing-a-long, we did the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, this only had a short wait time and by the time it was over it was lunch time. That show was alright, she was excited to see Ariel live, but honestly in my opinion its time for Disney to update the theatrics, it seemed a little outdated, but to a 3 year old it was just fine!

Hollywood & Vine has the Disney Junior characters. So we saw Sophia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake the Pirate and Handy Manny. They all make their way to your table at some point during your meal and it had a pretty decent buffet for lunch. She was just so excited the whole time!

11B982E7-BD7C-425B-B6B7-AE8A385465B7

7A913373-B5EB-4252-B17D-8E9A9122348B

After lunch we debated trying to catch the Disney Junior Live! show, but decided that it was getting hot and we just saw half those characters so we headed back to the hotel for a nap. We did get to see Donald on our way out!

17353087_10100368221513401_4857170604550667778_n

That evening, we had Fast Passes to Enchanted Tales with Belle. So after we were all refreshed we made our way into the Magic Kingdom for our first glimpse at the Castle!

FullSizeRender 2

5:00 was a perfect time to head into the park because I think everyone was at dinner so we didn’t have to fight crowds to get to Belle on time. We did it right away at the early side of our Fast Pass time slot, and this was probably the cutest thing we did our whole trip and made such an impression on Ada. Belle is her most favorite princess right now, so I think she was literally star struck. The whole attraction though was just perfect for her, it was with a small intimate group, so you could really take it all in, and I felt like she actually got some cute, quality time with Belle up close.

IMG_3142

After, we had some time and there was only a 20 minute wait at Ariels Grotto, so we waited a little bit for her to meet her second most favorite princess right now, Ariel.

17342496_10100368221488451_222727495968259284_n

We did a quick-service dinner and then it was time to get ready for the fireworks. Grandpa had sent her a gift card in the mail before our trip so we let her pick out a light up toy to play with while waiting for the fireworks, and then we caught the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular. So glad we got to see this since its coming to an end in May! She loved the fireworks despite thinking they were too loud!

17352449_10100368221613201_7066121401239284522_n

IMG_3205

We went back to the hotel that night and somehow the girl was wired still, so we let her go run around in the splash pad until about 9:30, at which point we threw her in a warm tub to clean up and she passed out in about 30 seconds.

IMG_3218

The next morning we got up early and made it to the Magic Kingdom again right at 9am when the gates opened, it was great timing as the lines were not yet too long and once inside, the park felt pretty empty. We even got to see Minnie as she was walking out! Perfect timing! (Main Street doesn’t look empty below, but the rest of the park really was!)

17353235_10100368223424571_8889319707191277983_n

Our first stop was Fast Passes to meet Repunzel and Tiana. I’d read a lot about saving your fast passes until the afternoon, but there somehow was already a 50 minute wait and so I’m glad I didn’t take that advice and just got the Fast Pass for 9am. We were in and out in about 15 minutes and she was in her glory meeting both!

17342700_10100368223823771_6680317635546313285_n

FullSizeRender 3

I had called Disney on the phone before our trip  to help me find restaurant reservations after I was becoming frustrated at the the fact that everything was booked.  Someone actually managed to get us into Chef Mickeys at 10:30am, it wasn’t in my mind the most convenient time but I really wanted Ada to dine with Mickey and Minnie, so we took it. (I think someone worked some magic because we were guests of the Contemporary Hotel, which is where this restaurant is located.  I can’t confirm this, but I don’t know how else we would have been booked there, when everything said no availability).  This is why we got to the park so early though and what prompted me to book a fast pass, I wanted to get something in before 10:30 breakfast. It involved some back and forth, park hopping, which with the convenience of the monorail made this not the worst scenario. When we left the park the gates were mobbed!! Never try to enter the park around 10:00-10:30 it was crazy! When we came back into the park again after breakfast/lunch around 12:30 the gates were dead again!

Chef Mickeys at this time was also actually a blessing in disguise. Because it was the tail end of breakfast, as people cleared out, no new guests were coming in because they were getting ready to turn over for lunch. So because there were fewer and fewer people, the characters we’re actually starting to come around again.

17352209_10100368223718981_522481475292304680_n

We spent the rest of that afternoon in the Magic Kingdom again, and it had gotten crazy busy and super hot! We had fast passes for the Monster’s Inc Laugh Factory, which was super cute and felt amazing inside because it was all air conditioned. We grabbed some ice cream en route to the Haunted Mansion and when we got there, the Fast Pass line was longer then the regular line and we almost skipped it. Luckily, we found a shady spot for about 15 minutes and when I went back the line was down again and so we did that. Ada loves scary things so she was super pumped for the Haunted Mansion. I think she got a little nervous once we were inside but quickly got excited again and she loved it!

When we came out the afternoon Parade was just starting so Ada took the best seat in the house and we watched that before heading out!

FullSizeRender 4
Dad looks super mad because the Internet crashed on the East Coast that afternoon and he was trying to deal with that mess back at his office while fighting crowds and heat in Disney World = Not Happy! But Look at the smile on Ada, if only we all saw the world through a child’s eye!

She fell asleep in the stroller rental we had shortly after that, so once we got to the gates to leave I had to carry her all the way back to the hotel, that was suuuper fun! We had already checked out of our hotel, so we just grabbed a shady lounge chair by the pool and let her nap. I ran up to the hotel shops to get some souvenirs and then we let her run around the splash pad again for about a half hour before jumping in the car to drive “home” (Back to Tampa). We got in around 7pm and she talked Grandma’s ear off about everything we did!!

All in all it was a great way to add to our Florida trip! Next time we plan to stay at the Polynesian Resort and actually just take some time to enjoy the hotel and some of the things around that don’t even require park tickets. There is just so much to Disney World without having to pay hundreds of dollars to go to a park and since we have the family in Tampa and go down so much, its not one of those “once in a lifetime trips”, we can actually just do small bursts of Disney a little at a time, which I think is totally the way to do it!

Tampa, FL

I’m going to do our Florida trip in two parts. We headed south at the end of February, and visited family in Tampa and then did two days in Disney World, but since Disney warrants its own post I’ll do that part separate.

Tampa is amazing for kids and families. I never really did a good post on our trip last year down to visit, when we did the Tampa Zoo and the Florida Aquarium, but since we go to Tampa at least once or twice a year I’ll do that at some point! This time, we were there for a day and a half before Disney and then another day after. Dan’s brother lives there, so we visit a lot and plan to do so even more.

Our first day there this time around, we hit up Datz for breakfast which was amazing! The Monkey bread was to die for, I had chicken and waffles which was so filling for breakfast but super delicious. It was a fantastic place for kids, it was loud and energetic and they gave some fun little wax sticks for the kids which kept them occupied forever.

Afterwards we spent the afternoon at Treasure Island Beach in St. Petes. Ada really loved the beach, my favorite comment from her was “Mommy, I don’t understand how the beach is soo fun?” She just melts my heart with how much she loves and appreciates everything we do with her at this age. I have to remind myself that we don’t have to do over the top things, she is so impressed with the simple things.  The weather was perfect and we had sunshine and family time, so it was the best first day!

17265260_10100368216129191_4869826036216895037_n17352435_10100368216263921_2738786115918606769_nDSC_0298DSC_0340DSC_0358DSC_0280DSC_0317

We did two days in Disney afterwards, which I’ll recap later and then had another beach day in Clearwater after we got back. It was fun to break up the trip into two parts and that way we didn’t get burnt out of anything too fast, and I honestly feel like two days in Disney was enough! There’s obviosuly a lot we didn’t do, but to break it up with some beach time made it for a relaxing and fun trip for everyone.

After we got back into Tampa, we spent our last day in Clearwater at a little beach/bar restaurant area called Whiskey Joes.  We could see it from the road as we were driving into Clearwater, and both Dan and I looked at each other and said “I hope we’re going there!” (we were just following the fam). It was like a little private island getaway and on a Wednesday afternoon it was dead, so we basically had the beach and the bar to ourself. We enjoyed some fish tacos, beers, mango mojitos and sunshine! A perfect last day!

IMG_3370IMG_3402

We finished out the day with a stop at the park so the girls could run around in the sprinklers and enjoyed some beautiful views of Tampa Bay, then dinner in the cute little historic area of Ybor. Where we took a stroll through downtown and hit up the Tampa Bay Brewing Company for dinner. Complete with a super amazing Sunset sky!

IMG_3436IMG_3470IMG_3492IMG_3495

What are your favorite things to do in Tampa? We travel there a lot to visit and are always looking for more fun things to do to make our trips different! Suggestions welcome!